Prop firms in numbers: how many traders get paid and why firms go under
Prop firms like to show their biggest traders' payouts and their total paid out. Almost none shows the full funnel: how many people buy a challenge, how many pass and how many ever receive any money.
The only complete data: Topstep
Topstep, a US futures prop firm, publishes statistics for the whole year. For 2025 they look like this:
| Stage (Topstep, 2025) | Result |
|---|---|
| Challenges (Trading Combine) passed | 16.8% of all started |
| Participants who reached the Funded level at least once | 51.8% of people |
| People at the Funded level who received any payout | 33,3% |
| Traders moved from an Express account to a Live account | 0,71% |
The last number is the most important. An “Express Funded” account is still a simulated account. Fewer than 1 in 100 traders at that stage moved to a real account with real orders on the exchange. With simulated accounts, payouts come from the firm's own revenue, and in this model the main source of that revenue is challenge fees.
The figures refer to different groups (challenges and people), so you can't simply multiply them. But they show the direction: most challenge fees never come back to the buyers.
Firms that stopped paying
- My Forex Funds: in 2023 the US CFTC sued the firm, alleging fraud of more than $310 million, and the firm suspended operations. In May 2025 the court dismissed the case because of the CFTC's own misconduct, without ruling on the allegations. For traders waiting for payouts, it made no difference for two years.
- February 2024: the developer of the MetaTrader platforms revoked licences from prop firms serving US clients. In the following months many firms suspended or ended operations, including True Forex Funds, The Funded Trader and SurgeTrader.
- According to industry tallies, several dozen prop firms closed in 2024 alone. Each closure wipes out fees for ongoing challenges and often unpaid profits.
Why I don't rank prop firms
A ranking needs comparable data. For CFD brokers, the regulator requires them to publish the share of clients who lose. Nobody requires that of prop firms, and practically only Topstep publishes the full funnel. A ranking based on reviews, discount codes and payout photos would be advertising, not analysis. The only criterion that can be compared fairly is transparency: does the firm publish full statistics? Before you pay, ask every firm the questions below.
My 10 questions before buying a challenge
- What percentage of challenges are passed, and what percentage of people get a payout? If the firm doesn't publish this, why not?
- Is the account after the challenge real or still simulated? When, and on what terms, do you get a real account?
- What market do you trade: futures with exchange data, or CFDs and forex on the firm's provider's price feed?
- How does the loss limit work: from the end-of-day balance or from the intraday high-water mark (trailing)?
- Is there a consistency rule that can block a payout after one very good day?
- Which strategies are prohibited, and who decides?
- Can the firm change the rules while your account is running?
- Where is the company based, under which law are disputes settled and how long has the firm been operating?
- How much does a reset cost, and how often do people buy one?
- How will you be taxed on a payout (for Poland, see the article on legality and taxes)?
What to do instead
A challenge is a test on a simulator that you pay for. You can practise the same process yourself: with a journal, a small position in a micro contract and a clear loss limit. The Micro Dow Jones contract (MYM) is $0.50 per point, so you can start with risk measured in tens of dollars rather than thousands. I write more about this decision in the article Prop firm or your own capital.
Frequently asked questions
How many people pass a prop firm challenge?
At Topstep in 2025, 16.8% of challenges started were passed. Most prop firms don't publish such data.
How many traders get paid by a prop firm?
At Topstep in 2025, 33.3% of people who reached the Funded level received a payout. 0.71% of traders with Express accounts moved to a real account.
Is a funded account real money?
Usually not. At many firms, even after passing the challenge you trade a simulated account, and payouts come from the firm's revenue, mainly challenge fees.
Educational content, not an investment recommendation or legal or tax advice. I name firms only to show public data from registers and from their own risk warnings.